FEB 2004 NEWS ARCHIVE
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| News articles from February 2004 are archived below, latest nearest the top of the page. Click "back" on your web browser to return to previous page. |
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| 29th Feb 2004 |
| GOOD CSRA MEETING |
| The turnout for last nights CSRA meeting at Aaron Hesmer's store was both encouraging and refreshing. Seems we are through the deepest dark of winter and people are starting to get the speedway bug again. A good meeting with plenty of positive discussion. Also three new members were present, all who have bought bikes and will be riding next season. Excellent! Full details will appear shortly in the CSRA news letter for members, alternatively the CSRA website (see "links" page) should have some relevant updated news soon. A special thankyou must go out to my friend and fellow rider Graham Wale who presented me with a Reading Racers Pennant he had found and bought on e-bay (click on thumbnails below and click "back" on your browser to return to this page). Thanks also to Aaron and Joe Hesmer for providing the excellent venue and to all who made the effort to show last night. And wasn't Pat Hesmer's chilli a treat! |
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| 29th Feb 2004 |
| BIKE RUNNING! |
| Well, I finally took the bit between my teeth and decided it was time to fire the bike up for the first time since the motor rebuild. So yesterday I had Michael help me get it up from the basement. Once in the garage I filled the sump with oil, fuelled her up and tried spinning the back wheel with my hand. Compression or what! I could barely spin it over. After a few feeble attempts I realised I had achieved nothing else but flooding her. So out into the street we went and pushed. By the time it eventually fired I was much further down the street than I had ever been before. I received many strange looks from bemused onlookers; some lunatic sitting sidesaddle on a motorized pushbike with no crash helmet belching out burned Castrol R (I poured loads down the bore whilst rebuilding) and filling the neighbourhood air with that divine smell that only speedway freaks know! Anyways, if you've gotten your breath back after that long scentence, the motor purred as sweet as a kitten (I don't like cats but it seemed like it was time to coin a phrase).
I warmed it up really gently, silenced the beast after about ten minutes of becoming Mr. Unpopular, drained the oil and sat back with a complete air of satisfaction and a wry smile on my face. Roll on pre-season practice! |
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| 26th Feb 2004 |
| CSRA MEETING REMINDER 28TH FEBRUARY |
| Don't forget, the next CSRA meeting is being held this coming Saturday evening 28th Feb at Aaron Hesmer's store, 42 Easton Road, Brantford. Start time is 7:30. Please, please, please, everyone that can possibly make it do come along. The new season is fast approaching and there is lots to discuss and to get sorted. A good turnout would really show our dedicated board of directors and Paris track manager, Dave Havill, that they really are doing something worthwhile. Riders in particular, lets put in a good showing so we can get some idea of likely numbers next season. Also, if you haven't visited Aaron's shop yet, then it's worth a visit for that alone! Look forward to seeing you all there. |
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| 23rd Feb 2004 |
| ANOTHER SPONSOR |
| Today I received some excellent news. An individual representing an organization named "NBL Consultant Services" has pledged financial support to help me with my 2004 racing efforts. I will be including full details of the services NBL can offer once negotiations have been finalized but I could not let this day pass without at least mentioning this most generous pledge. I would like to take this opportunity to thank both of my 2004 season sponsors, (see also news article dated 14th Feb), but today a very special thanks to the most recent addition to my racing team, NBL Consultant Services. |
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| 23rd Feb 2004 |
| EXHAUST PIPE ON! |
| Once again, the hydraulic press at my workplace came in handy. When I tried to fit my new exhaust system late yesterday, I found it would not quite fit. So off to work it went with me today and during lunch, I tweaked it into shape using the press. This evening, it fitted like a glove with just enough clearance everywhere. Click the thumbnails below for larger images and then click "back" on your browser to return to this page. |
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| 22nd Feb 2004 |
| MOTOR IN THE FRAME! |
| Had a good day yesterday (Saturday). Worked pretty much all day on the bike and finished rebuilding the motor. As you can see from clicking on the thumbnails below, the engine is now in the frame! (Click "back" on your browser to return to this page). Just the exhaust system and carb to fit up and then we move onto the rolling chassis maintenance. |
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| 21st Feb 2004 |
| BOTTOM END REBUILD! |
| Over the last couple of evenings I have progressed with the motor rebuild in readiness for my first season in Division 1. I have meticulously assembled the crankcases and fitted my new Accralite slipper piston to the connecting rod. The Accralite is a new design of piston supplied by Vega Racing out of the UK which has a special low friction coating ("accracoat") on the piston skirt. The slipper design (non full piston skirt) is supposed to cope better with the increased piston speeds of long stroke motors. I gapped my piston ring end gap at 0.012" and have slid the new cylinder over the piston onto the crankcases (click on thumbnails below). You'll have to click "back" on your browser to return to this page. Again, I'll keep this updated as I progress. I hope you are finding it interesting. Why not e-mail me with your comments? |
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| 21st Feb 2004 |
| MICHAEL HAS HIS LICENCE! |
| My 13 year old son Michael yesterday received his first ever competition licence from the CMA. This will allow him to race in the Division 3 speedway class in the coming season. He has been given #2 as his future race number. |
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| 18th Feb 2004 |
| THE REBUILD BEGINS! |
| Well, the day before yesterday I received the remainder of the parts I needed to do my motor rebuild. I had already pressed the crankshaft apart on the 30 ton hydraulic press at my work and today I pressed it back together complete with new "Centec 2" connecting rod, KWP crank pin and new big end bearing, all supplied by the excellent Trevor Eadon at Vega racing (see links page for a link to their website). I aligned the crank to within 0.0007" with dial gauges between centers and slotted it into my crankcases, together with new main roller bearings. It spins really freely with no play. So far, so good! I'll keep you all updated on the progress as I start to rebuild the top end. |
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| 15th Feb 2004 |
| THE STRUGGLE FOR PARTS! |
| As a rider in Canada, and one who prefers to do all my own machine maintenance the availability in this country of speedway spare parts is somewhat limited. Whilst we have a decent Jawa dealer in Guy Fafard in Quebec and another in Aaron Hesmer in Ontario, both who are very capable of supplying all general running gear also, there is certainly a very limited availability of parts for the Italian made GM motor. My only option in North America is a supplier in California. To this end, it makes much more sense for me to order everything I need directly from my native land England. Of course speedway is huge over there and everything is readily available. Just a telephone call to very knowlegeable staff and a credit card number and the parts can be on my doorstep in little over a week. I have very good success with two suppliers in particular, both who I have added to my "Links" page. The first, Vega Racing, supply the top speedway motor tuners in the world with all kinds of specialty engine components form specially coated forged slipper pistons to connecting rods finely machined and balanced to special valve springs, collets and retainers. You name it, they do it. My other favourite supplier of all things speedway is Joe Hughes International. They do everything! Please visit their websites and trawl through the tons of goodies they have to offer. And you Canadian riders out there, if you're really stuck for something unusual, something which our own suppliers can't offer at the drop of a penny, don't despair, keep your options open, swallow the Canadian import duty and you can have anything you want in a week or so! |
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| 14th Feb 2004 |
| A SPONSOR! |
| I am very pleased to announce a sponsorship deal has been struck with an organization who will very generously be covering the cost of my racing oil and methanol for the 2004 season. I cannot yet disclose their name as they are presently in the early stages of starting up in business. However they are on track to be fully operational in May 2004 and more details of their services and a link to their website will be added once they are up and running. I would like to sincerely thank this organization for their pledged support and I hope we will be able to form a long and mutually beneficial partnership. I also wish them the very best in the challenging times ahead whilst ramping up the business. |
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| 11th Feb 2004 |
| MICHAEL IS ON THE WAY! |
| After a potential setback in the start of my son Michael's speedway racing career, I am pleased to announce we are now back on track. We applied for his 2004 racing licence from the CMA as he is now 13, but the CMA informed us they had raised the minimum age of speedway racing from 13 to 15 for this coming season. I immediately approached our CSRA President (and CMA referee), Bryan Long on this matter and he in turn took our query to the CMA. Thanks to Bryan's intervention, the CMA made a seperate ruling stating that 13 year olds would be allowed to ride speedway in Division 3 only. As Paris is the only track to run a Division 3, this ruling effectively means that Michael and others like him will now be able to race at Paris in the future and Michael's CMA licence is now on the way. This is typical of the hard work of the CSRA in promoting and growing this wonderful sport in Canada. Many thanks and great work Bryan! |
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| Bryan Long |
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